Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-09-04

he confessed to me that he had stolen
about 5000 in sums from $40 upwards.
These depredations had covered per-
iod of over three months. The young
man was the only son of a
distinguished clergyman. He had
been taught to do what was right.
but on one occasion he had found a
letter unsealed containing money.
The temptation was too great; he
could not stand it and he helped him
self to half its contents, $40. Although
a serious case, an affair connected with
it is rather laughable. When this
young man was being conveyed to the
prisen handcuffed to Deputy Sheriff
in the depot, he met an old school
chum who had not heard of his ar
rest. On inquiry why he was hand
cuffed the young man replied: "Why,
didn't you know l was detect
i've? 1 am, and am taking this man
to the penitenitary. Goodbye and
thus they separated, 1t is seldom, as
before stated, that a depreciation oc-
ours in the registry department. Ex-
ira precautions are taken here. A
great many losses and delays of mail
matter are chargeable to the fact that
the parties mailing are not particular
as to the address, consequently the
letter goes astray, and then before it is
found it goes through SO many hands
that if some of the contents are
missing it is very hard work to locate
the depredator. Oftentimes com
plants are made to the postofiice of
losses of letters when the fault is not
chargeable to the postoffice, but to the
fact that some dishonest messenger
boy or clerk is tampering with the
mail in the very office the complaint
proceeds from. l have on record a
great many cases of this kind, and the
hard-worked but honest postoffice
clerk is under suspicion until the real
culprit is found.
The business carried on by the
money-order department is enormous,
and still it is very seldom that money
order is paid wrongfully. Once in a
great while the signature on money
order is forged, but this does not in
sure the payment of said money order
and the forger is very likely, on pre-
sentation, to be requested in polite
manner to sit down and wait few
minutes. In the meantime an officer
is notified. Interpreters have to
be on hand in both this and
the registered letter department
to transact the business with the for
eign element, and these foreigners
look on our postal system as the best
method to transport money not only
in the United States, but to their own
country. An Italian interpreter gave
the office some trouble about a month
ago. He had been in the service
about two years and had the conf
dence of his countrymen. After a
while he conceived the idea of swind-
ling them in this manner. They,
not knowing the regulations and
not suspecting this man of any dis
honest motive, would give him the
money they wished to send home and
the address it was to be mailed to.
They would then be told it was all
right. In some cases he would give
them his individual receipt on official
paper. The money never would leave
the pocket of this rascal except to pay
for some dissipation. 1t was the mans
dissolute habits that finally aroused
my suspicion and | arrested him. He
is now serving his time.
at is grave offense against the
United States law to mail any infiam- |
mable or explosive substance, but it
has been done in the New York office
and on one occasion nearly caused
trouble. In the spring of 1882 two
packages were dropped into the main
office, one addressed to the Hon. Cy-
rus w. Field and one to the late VIM.
II. Vanderbilt. The one addressed to
Mr.. Vanderbilt exploded in the ele-
waited railroad car. The force of the
explosion nearly threw the car off
the track and set fire to the mail. 1t
was extinguished, however, before
any serious damage was done. An ex-
animation of the rest of the mail dis |
covered the package addressed to the |
Hon. Cyrus w. Field. Each of the |
packages contained over half pound |
of guncotton, with chemicals in glass
tubes so arranged as to ignite as soon
as the cover of the box, which con-
tanned the same, was removed. There
is nothing left of the Vanderbilt pack
age, but still have in my collection
the one addressed to MI. Field. Another
package, containing dynamite so ar
ranged that as soon as the end OF the
package was removed would cause
the discharge of a small pistol, and
consequently the dynamite, can also
be seen at my office at No. 1859 Broad
way. This package was sent to me
by some unknown person, and if l
had opened it, as perhaps one less
careful might have done, it is possi-
BILE l would not be here to tell you
about it. But before the cover or end
was removed the whole package was
placed in a bucket of water, and there
was left until completely saturated"
Mr.. Newcome has made a great
many arrests, both in the New York
office and over his district generally,
and his scrap book of his detective Of
flee, No. 169 Broadway, is full of inter
esting clippings from the press all
over the country. In the New York
office most of the arrests have been
made from the branches; these dep
relations were mostly on ordinary
mail matter. HENRY JAMES.